Effect of foliar application of different levels of gibberellic acid, 1-naphthalene acetic acid and their combinations on growth, yield and quality of papaya (Carica papaya L.) cv. Vinayak

Abstract

An experiment was conducted at Horticulture Farm, Department of Horticulture, NEHU Tura campus, Chasingre, Meghalaya during the year 2020-21 to evaluate the effect of foliar application of different levels of gibberellic acid, 1-naphthalene acetic acid and their combinations on growth, yield and quality of papaya (Carica papaya L.) cv. Vinayak. The results indicated that growth, yield and quality of the papaya fruits were significantly influenced by plant growth regulators studied. Among the treatments, the highest vegetative growth, yield attributing characters and quality were recorded with the treatment T7 (RDF- Recommended Dose of Fertilizer + NAA 50 ppm + GA3 50 ppm). Different vegetative parameters such as petiole length, number of leaves per plant, plant height and plant spread were recorded maximum value under the treatment T7. T7 took lowest days to first flowering, days to first fruiting and days from first flowering to fruit maturity. Treatment T7 also showed superiority in different yield-attributing characteristics, such as number of flowers per node, fruit set percentage, number of fruits/plant, fruit length, fruit diameter and fruit weight. Quality parameters, such as TSS, ascorbic acid, total, reducing and non-reducing sugars of fruits, T7 (RDF + NAA 50 ppm + GA3 50 ppm), exhibited significantly maximum value.